China Opens New Hospital as Other Nations Impose Travel Bans to Stem Virus

China opened a 1,000 bed hospital Monday that crews rushed to build in order to help cope with a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 17,200 people and killed at least 361 in China alone.

The World Health Organization says it expects the number of cases to grow as test results from thousands of pending cases come in.

The virus has been largely confined to China, with about 150 cases in 23 other countries. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death due to the virus outside of China.

Chinese authorities have tried to stop the spread by instituting bans on movement in certain regions and extending holidays to keep people away from schools and other large gatherings.

Other nations put in place restrictions on those traveling from China, including the United States, which drew criticism from China’s foreign ministry.

Spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused the United States of spreading fear and not offering any substantial assistance in response to the outbreak.

The United States began mandatory 14-day quarantines Sunday for U.S. citizens who had been in Hubei province, where the outbreak began, and entry bans for most non-U.S. citizens who traveled to China within the past two weeks.

U.S. citizens and their immediate families, along with permanent residents and flight crews traveling from China are being flown to certain airports for extra screening.

Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, said that the overall risk to Americans remains low. He added that the new rules could add stress and travel time for some passengers, but “public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus and protect the American people,” he said.

President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States has “shut down” the coronavirus coming in from China, even as officials in San Francisco reported a ninth confirmed U.S. case.

“We’ve offered China help but we can’t have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus,” Trump said. “So we’re going to see what happens, but we did shut it down.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday “a handful more flights” will be going to China to evacuate Americans from Hubei province. Speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, Pompeo said the United States “might bring in some medical supplies” as well.

He said experts from the U.S. Centers from Disease Control and Prevention already are in Kazakhstan, which shares a long eastern border with China.

Indonesia announced Sunday a ban on entry to all foreigners and visitors who visited China, and asked Indonesians not to go there. A temporary halt on flights from China is due to begin Wednesday.

China’s acting ambassador to Israel apologized Sunday for comparing the border closures in Israel and elsewhere to restrictions placed on European Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

Dai Yuming said China was one of the few nations that opened its borders to Jewish refugees during “the darkest days in human history.”

The embassy later issued a statement saying there was no intention to compare what is happening today to the Holocaust and apologized to anyone who “understood our message the wrong way.”

The outbreak has taken an economic toll on China, with stock markets closing down nearly 8 percent Monday.

The WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency last week.